Literary Crush: Prince Brigan from Fire by Kristin Cashore

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. The young King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. The mountains and forests are filled with spies and thieves and lawless men.This is where Fire lives. With a wild, irresistible appearance and hair the color of flame, Fire is the last remaining human monster. Equally hated and adored, she had the unique ability to control minds, but she guards her power, unwilling to steal the secrets of innocent people. Especially when she has so many of her own.Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City, The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there's more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.If only she weren't afraid of becoming the monster her father was.

What does he look like? Tall, dark, and brooding. He has a stern face, gray eyes, and eyebrows described as “unfriendly.” Battle scarred and clean-shaven (except when he’s been out fighting monsters for too long).He’s not given a lot of physical description, but most of it has to do with the imposing figure he cuts.

What does he do? The Commander of the King’s Army, he helps his brother rule the Dells, runs the army and keeps the kingdom safe from invaders and warmongers, thwarts would-be assassins, and fights monster animals (dangerous, brightly colored versions of regular animals, with a taste for blood and the ability to manipulate the minds of any other creatures).

Whom does he love? Lady Fire, the only living monster human. Though he certainly doesn’t love her at first; he mistrusts her deeply because of what her father, also a monster human, has used his power over people to do.

Why him? Because I’m a sucker for curmudgeons with hearts of gold. For all his hard and stony exterior, Brigan cares deeply about his family, his king, and his land. He’s noble without being stuffy. He wants so badly to be a good man, but he can’t always be because of the job he has to do to keep the kingdom safe. But in the face of that reality, he is determined to be the best man he can at any given moment. He has a good head on his shoulders. He thinks. He starts the story hating Fire because he hated her father for his actions when he was alive, but once he actually takes the time to get to know Fire, he reevaluates those feelings. He’s willing to be open and to admit when he’s wrong. He’s the kind of many who judges people for who they are, not who they appear to be. He’s protective of the people he loves, but not possessively so, and he recognizes that Fire can take care of herself, unlike some other characters in the story. In a novel full of men throwing themselves at Fire because of the inherent pull monsters have over other creatures (something Fire hates and cannot control), it’s refreshing and butterfly-inducing to watch the man with iron-solid mental control fall in love with this amazing heroine for real.

Swoon Worthy Quotes:

“Brigan did terrible things. He stuck swords into men in the mountains. He trained soldiers for war. He had enormous destructive power, just as his father had had — but he didn’t use that power the way his father had done. Truly, he would rather not use it at all. But he chose to, so that he might stop other people from using power in even worse ways. His power was his burden. He accepted it.”

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“It came to her like the gentles wave from the deep ocean of his consciousness. She stood quiet, and absorbed it, and took hold of her own feelings; for the fact of Brigan releasing a feeling to her, the first feeling he’d ever given her, made her inordinately happy.”

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“Brigan was saying her name, and he was sending her a feeling. It was courage and strength, and something else too, as if he were standing with her, as if he’d taken her within himself, letting her rest her entire body for a moment on his backbone, her mind in his mind, her heart in the fire of his. The first of Brigan’s heart was astounding. Fire understood, and almost could not believe, that the feeling he was sending her was love. Pull yourself together, he thought to her. Get yourself into that room.”

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“He said, ‘The moment I began to love you was the moment when you saw your fiddle smashed on the ground, and you turned away from me and cried against your horse. Your sadness is one of the things that makes you beautiful to me. Don’t you see that? I understand it. It makes my own sadness less frightening.'”

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